"No, never."
"Well, I will be good! I can swallow it down if I want to."
Observe what faith the child had in herself!
"There, don't you talk any more," added Miss Dimple, with a sudden sense of shame, and a desire to conceal her emotions. "Let's make pictures on the slate."
Prudy was ready for anything; her heart was very light. She was too wise to remind Dotty of her new resolution; but she kept a journal, and that evening there was a precious item to make in it.
I think, by the way, that Prudy's habit of keeping a journal was an excellent thing. She learned by the means to express her thoughts with some degree of clearness, and it was also an improvement to her handwriting.
"July 2d. My sister Dotty thinks, certain, positive, she will be a good girl; and this is the day she begins. But I shall not tell anybody, for I promised, 'No, never.'
"My mother told her about a girl that almost killed a dear little boy because they asked her to give him baked apples and milk. I heard my father say to my mother that he thought the story pierced Dotty like a two-leg-ged sword. So I don't think she will ever get angry again. Finis."
Prudy always added the word "Finis" at the close of her remarks each day, considering it a very good ending.